Possible HIV Vaccine Found

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Researchers at Oregon Health and Science University announced last week they are currently testing a vaccine that uses a primate form of HIV, called SIV, which causes AIDS in monkeys.  The trials successfully removed the virus in monkeys, prompting scientists to hope an HIV-form of the vaccine will soon be available for testing in humans.

“This latest research suggests that certain immune responses elicited by a new vaccine may also have the ability to completely remove HIV from the body,” Dr. Louis Picker, the lab’s associate director said.

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The approach uses cytomegalovirus, or CMV, which is a common virus that doctors say is carried by a large percentage of the population. Pairing it with SIV had a unique effect, researchers found, and SIV-infected cells were sought out and destroyed.

Researchers said they were able to teach the monkey’s body to better prepare its defenses to combat SIV, and they’re hoping their modified CMV will have a similar result in humans.

“What we’ve shown is that not only does this vaccine control the infection, but it actually eliminates the virus from the body of the monkey,” Picker said.

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Although HIV and AIDS have become manageable in recent years, it has not yet been obliterated. Hopefully, this promising new vaccine will work inside the human body and remove HIV altogether, just as an antibiotic can remove an infection.